On October 24, 2008 the Department of Computer Science of RWTH Aachen (Germany) awarded the Scientific Director of Schloss Dagstuhl, Prof. Dr. Reinhard Wilhelm, a honorary doctorate. Professor Wolfgang Thomas mentioned in his laudation Reinhard Wilhelm’s merits in the fields of programming languages and the analysis of real-time systems. He also pointed out his achievements in the context of Schoss Dagstuhl, which he helped founding and which has flourished into an important meeting place for the international computer science community.
Together with Reinhard Wilhelm, Prof. Dr. Jan van Leeuwen (Utrecht), a pioneer of algorithms, also received an honorary doctorate. Both participated in the foundation of the then young discipline of computer science and helped establishing important fields. Jan van Leeuven and Reinhard Wilhelm are the first scientists to whom the RWTH Aachen Computer Science Department awarded a honorary doctorate.
In a scientific colloquium, which preceded the ceremony, Thomas Ottmann (Freiburg) und Kim G. Larson (Aalborg) illustrated the research fields of the two laureates. The ceremony was led by Rector Ernst Schmachtenberg of RWTH Aachen and attended by the faculty and numerous guests. 

Pictures courtesy of RWTH Aachen